Fabrication of Micro Field Emitter Tip Using Ion-Beam Irradiation-Induced Self-Standing of Thin Films

We propose a novel standing technique of fabricating a high-aspect-ratio tip structure. The technique utilizes the bending of films induced by ion irradiation. Using this technique, the position and aspect ratio can be easily controlled by the conventional thin-film deposition and photolithography processes. We found that the standing is realized when ion energy is chosen at which the film internal stress at the medium depth of the film relaxes, while low- and high-energy irradiations simply bend up and bend down the film, respectively. We demonstrate the application of the thin-film standing technique to field emitter fabrication.